Summary
- Hardest difficulty options in open-world games provide a challenging experience for players.
- Increasing difficulty levels prevent combat from becoming monotonous in games like Skyrim and Marvel's Spider-Man.
- Hardcore modes like in Fallout: New Vegas and The Witcher 3 offer fresh and challenging gameplay experiences.
The best open-world games are a blast to play, allowing players to explore massive sandboxes and enjoy the gameplay on display here. More often than not, the majority of these titles boast combat loops that are a blast to engage with and do a great job of letting players slowly but surely become stronger over time.
However, this can lead to a problem where the game fails to strike a balance and leaves players feeling unchallenged at lower difficulties. This is why they'll love the hardest difficulty options in these titles, which make things challenging once again, as players have to think twice before initiating combat against a tough foe.
8 The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
The Game Is Way Too Easy On Lower Difficulties
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Released
- November 11, 2011
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol
Skyrim is one of the best video games of all time, but even its biggest fans have to agree that the gameplay balancing can be all over the place. The game is decently challenging at lower difficulties, but becomes a cakewalk as the Dragonborn becomes stronger.
This is why players who want to enjoy a decent challenge should ramp up the difficulty so that combat doesn't become monotonous. Legendary difficulty may not boast a massive change aside from altering the damage model, but this in itself is enough for players to have a blast playing Skyrim.
7 Marvel's Spider-Man 2
Miles & Peter Must Use All The Tricks In Their Arsenal
Marvel's Spider-Man 2
- Released
- October 20, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Blood, Drug Reference, Mild Language, Violence
- Genre(s)
- Open-World, Action-Adventure, Superhero
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is one of the best video games that fans can get their hands on. This amazing sequel is a massive improvement on almost every front. It features a combat system that may seem punishing, but becomes manageable as the Spider-Men become stronger.
Players who want to truly challenge themselves as they weave around in combat to avoid unnecessary damage will love what the Spectacular difficulty mode brings to the table. It makes enemies more aggressive and harder, making even the simplest thug a nightmare to deal with if players underestimate their opponent's skills in combat.
6 Cyberpunk 2077
After A Point, Very Hard Is The Only Way Make Combat Challenging
Cyberpunk 2077
- Released
- December 10, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
Just like The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077 features an inverted difficulty curve that can be rather puzzling. It's normal for players to feel challenged in early-game encounters, only to completely walk over their opposition in the mid to late game.
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At this point, there's nothing wrong with setting the difficulty to Very Hard just so that enemies can pose a challenge to V. While the balancing in Update 2.0 does make combat more complex than before, players can still boringly steamroll their opposition if they're playing on a lower difficulty.
5 Fallout: New Vegas
The Mojave Is Tense To Explore In Hardcore Mode
Fallout: New Vegas
- Released
- October 19, 2010
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Genre(s)
- RPG
Given that New Vegas implements the Bethesda formula in many ways, it's easy to see why the gameplay can lose its edge after a point. Early-game difficulty in this game is notorious, which is what makes later encounters so boring because of how easy they can be.
This is why Hardcore mode can prove to be a godsend, changing the way players approach this title entirely. Players must manage their hydration, fatigue, and sustenance levels, ensure that their companions don't die, and carry limited ammunition since it can be rather weighty. All of this combines to make for a totally different way to experience New Vegas that feels pretty refreshing.
4 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Use Every Trick In The Witcher Playbook
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Released
- May 19, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
The Witcher 3 has a devoted fanbase, although some people genuinely feel that combat can become rather mindless after a point. These players clearly didn't play this game on a higher difficulty, since they could get by most encounters with their melee attacks and intermittent Sign usage.
On the Blood and Broken Bones or Death March difficulties, players must think about every move they make both before and during combat. Applying oils and imbibing potions is a must before challenging bosses that can wipe Geralt in seconds if the witcher hasn't prepared himself.
3 Valheim
Ramp Up The Sliders To Make The Survival Experience More Tense
Valheim
- Released
- February 2, 2021
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- r
- Genre(s)
- Sandbox, Survival
Valheim is one of the most promising survival games currently in early access, and it is poised to make a huge splash in the industry when the 1.0 release comes out. Fans will love the unique take on survival gameplay, which is so innovative that the simple act of eating food is something that players must think twice about.
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Players who are getting the hang of things can play Valheim on less intense difficulties to understand how the game works. More adept players can challenge themselves at higher difficulties. The most experienced of the lot opt to play this title at the hardest difficulty and love how tense a playthrough is, to the point where a single death can spell the end for all their hard-earned progress.
2 Ghost Of Tsushima
Lethal Difficulty Makes Every Combat Encounter Tense And Satisfying
Ghost of Tsushima
- Released
- July 17, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
Ghost of Tsushima has a unique take on difficulty settings. Sure, players can always put the game on Hard to make enemies sturdier and Jin more fragile, but there's another difficulty mode that completely flips the script on how the game works.
On Lethal difficulty, damage models are so realistic that both enemies and Jin can die in no time. This makes combat frenetic as players avoid damage at all costs, with boss duels being the only time that enemies can take more than a few hits before going down.
1 The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
Master Mode Makes The Game Difficult In Meaningful Ways
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Released
- March 3, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
Master Mode is one of the best additions to Breath of the Wild, serving as a boon for players who want to challenge themselves even more. Enemy types are scaled up one level from the get-go, and players will be flummoxed to see the mighty Lynel just chilling on the Great Plateau.
This is just a taste of what Breath of the Wild does with its difficulty modes, adding new Golden Enemies to the game and including floating Octoroks who keep platforms with powerful treasure chests airborne to challenge players to acquire their loot. It's a masterclass on how to handle higher difficulty in a video game and will make players fall in love with Breath of the Wild all over again.
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